For a long time. Woodruff those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Ifill grief settled over south korea today, after a ferry disaster at sea. Hundreds of High School Students were on board the vessel that capsized and sank. Officials confirmed six deaths, but 290 others were still missing, many hours later. We have a report narrated by Jonathan Miller of independent television news. Reporter in the yellow sea, a few miles off south koreas rocky coast, the 150 meter long, 6,000 ton ferry, the sewol, has capsized in 30 meters of water. On board, 459 passengers. Among them more than 300 teenagers en route to a School Field Trip on a volcanic island in the south. The ferry had sailed through the night after leaving incheon near the capital, seoul. Rolled and sank in two hours flat. As the news breaks, distraught moms and dads converge on the high school. Inside, theyre scouring the white board for names. Theres confusion. At first the school said all the students were safe. But they werent. translated i feel like my heart stopped. I cant describe it in words. Im too shocked. Even the word shocked doesnt describe how i feel. Reporter conflicting commands on board led to chaos, it seems. Some stayed put as instructed. Others donned lifevests and jumped into the cold sea. They were the survivors. Below deck, a terrified teenager films this. The water is rising, the water is rising, she screams. Others are on their smart phones. The south korean media later a daughter texts her dad, the ferrys tilted too much. I cant move. It would be even more dangerous if i tried. Her father pleads with her to get outside. No dad, i cant get out right now, she says. The ferry is at too much of an angle to walk. We dont know if that was their last communication. These pictures illustrate her plight. They were posted on youtube, filmed aboard the listing ship. At 9 27, half an hour after the ship sent its first distress call, a son texts his mother mum, in case i dont get a chance to speak to you, im leaving you this message. I love you. Apparently oblivious to the unfolding disaster she responds why . Then adds me too, son. I love you. In other messages, this time exchanged between students on board, one writes i really love you all. And continues i think were really going to die. Fished from the cold water scared and confused, those who had abandoned ship were asked what happened. translated there was an announcement to tell us to sit still, but the ferry was already sinking, this student said. Adding he was worried about his friends still trapped aboard. Reporter survivors huddled and hugged in the Sports Center nearby. Hearts broken. Mystery surrounds the capsize. Its possible the sewol hit submerged rocks or a reef. Survivors all describe a sharp jolt. Huge and frantic search and rescue operation is still underway. Navy divers battling strong currents and Poor Visibility have entered upturned hull hoping for air pockets. Perhaps its false hope for tonight the mood is somber. The captain under police investigation. Ifill in washington state, forty days after a wall of mud all but wiped out a small town the death toll rose to 39, with seven people still missing. The slide buried dozens of homes in the Tiny Community of oso, about 55 miles northeast of seattle. Teams are still probing the debris. Lawyers for the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing were in federal court today, trying to lift prison restrictions on their client. Dzokhar tsarnaev has been charged in the explosions at the marathons finish line last year. He wants the judge to bar the f. B. I. From monitoring visits with his sisters. Tsarnaev faces more than 30 counts in the deaths of three people and injuries to more than 260 others. In a new online video, the al qaeda wing in yemen is vowing to attack the united states. The video shows hundreds of fighters and supporters celebrating a mass prison break in the yemeni capital, back in february. The leader, nasser al wuhaishi, is seen addressing the crowd and then, calling for new attacks, as the camera pans the gathering. translated the crusader enemy, dear brothers, still possesses cards which he moves around. We have to remember dear brothers that we are always fighting the biggest enemy. The mother of infidels. We have to remove the cross, and the bearer of the cross, america. Ifill al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has made several attempts to attack the u. S. Since 2009. But drone attacks have killed several of the groups leaders, including anwar alawlaki, an americanborn cleric. Tensions along syrias border with jordan turned into open conflict today as jordanian warplanes destroyed a convoy of vehicles. The kingdoms military said the camouflaged vehicles were in a rugged area near the border and refused orders to stop. Damascus insisted the convoy was not part of the syrian army. A federal judge has struck down a north dakota law that bans abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can come as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The judge ruled today the statute cannot survive a constitutional challenge. It was unclear if the state will appeal. Theres hopeful news for the one in ten americans who suffer from diabetes. The centers for Disease Control finds a sharp drop in heart attacks and strokes among diabetics. Theyre down more than 60 over the last 20 years. The report appears in the new england journal of medicine. It attributes the drop mostly to better medicine and better care. Ifill in economic news, the Federal Reserve says growth picked up across most of the country over the past two months. Ten of the feds 12 regions reported increased activity. Also today, fed chair janet yellen reaffirmed plans to keep Interest Rates low. That helped boost wall street to another strong showing. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 162 points to close near 16,425. The nasdaq rose 52 points to close at 4,086. And the sandp added 19 to finish at 1,862. Still to come on the newshour following the tide of money behind this years midterm elections; ukraine struggles to pushback prorussian separatists; a new wave of militant attacks roil nigeria; babyboomers teaming up for their golden years; and West Virginias response to a toxic Chemical Spill. Woodruff last night was the deadline for political candidates, parties and some outside groups to report how much money they have raised and spent in the first three months of this election year. One thing is clear organizations not officially linked to the candidates are spending at record levels. Combined, these outside groups have poured in more than 57 million so far this cycle. That outpaces any election in American History at this calendar date, except the 2012 president ial election, which came on the heels of the Supreme Court ruling prohibiting restrictions on spending. A quarter of all this years money has been spent in just six states, where some of the Key Senate Races are playing out. Overall, more money has been spent already in this election than the entire 2,000 president ial election and the races have barely just begun. Here to talk about what all this means is sheila krumholz, the executive director of the center for responsive politics, a Research Group that tracks money in u. S. Politics. And david keating, the president of the center for competitive politics, a Nonprofit Organization that promotes deregulation of Campaign Finance. Thank you. Good to be here. Woodruff sheila, we just reported a lot of money is being spent by these outside groups in this cycle. We have a graphic that i want to show that break down some of the totals, liberals, 29. 5 million in this pie chart you see conservative groups 24. 3. Who are some of these groups, examples of liberals and conservative groups . Well, on the liberal side in the prior cycle most active group was priorities usa and priorities usa action. Others are pay tree majority. Citizens for strength and security. On the conservative side one of the most prominent and strongest at this point in the cycle is americans for prosperity. Along with freedom partners, american encore, 60 plus association and on and on. Woodruff they all have very patriot i can sounding names. Always known who is bank rolling these groups . It is usually not known who is bank rolling the taxexcept 501c4 and c6. Which can be active following Citizens United in raising and spending money purportedly independently of the campaign. To affect the outcome of those elections. Woodruff sheila, how often are these groups required to disclose . I think we have another graph that i can will show folks the biggest spendings, Democratic Political action, Senate Majority pac and group you just mentioned, americans for prosperity, 30 million versus 8. 3. Those are two different kinds of groups but gives you an idea of the amounts that are spent. What more does this tell us about what these groups are doing . Well, we do see the disclosure of the super pacs which are independent expenditure only committee. We can see where the money is coming from. And how it is being spent on ads and other advocacy for and against candidacies. That the politically active nonprofits that have great latitude now following the Citizens United and the decision. Allows them to perform many of the same kinds of activities but under avail of secrecy we cant track the flow of money easily. Jared david keating, what do we know how these outside groups spend their money versus how the candidates Political Action committees which are pretty much public because they have to report more regularly. We have to keep in mind first of all whenever a Group Advocates the election or defeat they have to report within hours. If its over 10,000. Woodruff name the candidate. How much they have spent. Even if they dont endorse the candidate if its within a certain amount of time before an election, 60 days before a general more 30 days before a primary, they have to report how much they spent. We always know how much is spent in that context. But we also have to keep in mind this is a year when congress is in session,er this both before congress, a lot of these calculations are counting bills that are advocating strictly on issues. Should obamacare be repealed, reformed, Something Like that. And lot of groups are counting that as trying to influence the election, but its trying to influence the debate also about where our government should be headed. Woodruff this is more than just focused on what happens in november although clearly that is a big part of it. Its all related obviously. Want the people who are now running for office to take positions, you have groups spending money on Global Warming issues, tax issues, abortion issues, would just heard on the court ruling. Theres lots of contentious things this year. Woodruff sheila, any seen any affects from the most recent Supreme Court ruling the mccutchion ruling, the big own doors . Its too early for us to see what impact the ruling has had on fundraising but we did hear that fundraisers were on the horn immediately following that decision to those largest donors who had maxed out in prior cycle to ask for additional funds now that they had the ability to give yet more. Its a big plus for the Party Committees and for candidates who are trying to break through and challenge the incumbents, one of the problems in a lot of these Campaign Finance laws is that it makes it difficult for challengers to raise the kind of money they need to take on the incumbents who have the name i. D. And perks of office. Woodruff it gives the challengers a leg up. Less restraint than they had party. The Party Committees would be bigger factor in this election cycle than they were in the last cycle. How do both of you, how do you see this as healthy or not for democracy to have this much money in politics and money that isnt all reportedly, we dont know in the case of these outs side groups who the donors are, we dont know may not know nor awhile how the money is being spent. I think most people logically want and expect the parties to play a role in politics and to support their candidates and so with this ruling theyre able to claw back some of the money that had previously been going to the independent outside organizations. And so i think that is arguably a positive step. On the other hand, it returns us effectively to the day of soft money where the parties are now courting the very elite top donors who were already influential to ask for yet more money and the question is what will they return what will be extended to those large donors. There have been donor reward programs in past years and so one wonders whether were regioning to that. Woodruff is there a donor about go ahead. Thats only a plus with more debate about where our country should be headed. Political scientists have studied spending and elections, find when there is more spending theres more message. And more people are paying attention. Voters are better informed and think turn out in higher numbers. I think these are all positive things for our democracy across the board. Woodruff what about sheilas point that now the attention, weight of influence gravitates towards those with the most money. I think ultimately the voters are in chargef voters dont like who is backing these candidates they control the voting booth that is how things get done. You have to look, selffunded candidates they often flame out. Money doesnt equal victory. It just means speech. Woodruff how do you see that . Disclosure just got a lot more complicated. Now its big enough chore that we try to undertake to track who these largest individual donors are that are giving to the candidates pacs and parties. It is not true that voters have access to the information they need to really understand who is bank rolling efforts to elect these candidates. They have more information about the money that is going in to the candidates pockets of the candidates and parties, know far less who is bank rolling outside efforts which can be determinative in close races. Woodruff which is it, do they know or dont they know . A lot of the problem with the disclosure in some of the states its generating junk disclosure where the money that is being recorded has nothing do with with the ad on the air. Our group won a ruling in the state of delaware where delaware was trying to force disclosure for groups that are publishing voter guides, things like project vote smart that sort of thing. Which is i think a ridiculous level of disclosure. Woodruff well, this is something were going to continue to look at throughout this election cycle we thank you both, david keating, sheila krumholz. Thank you. Ifill as diplomats prepare for talks tomorrow aimed at reaching a solution to the crisis in ukraine, the countrys government struggled again to take back control of the east. Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports. Reporter Ukrainian Armored personnel carriers, flying the russian tricolored flag, rolled into the eastern city of slovyansk. The latest move in a slowmotion takeover of ukrainian territory. The countrys Defense Ministry announced russian sabotage groups captured the vehicles, and the ukrainian soldiers in them, but one of those soldiers said hed defected. Meanwhile, heavily armed men in military gear patrolled streets in slovyansk, and beat an unidentified man before hauling him away. One of them flashed a ukrainian passport, and said hed come to the eastern region, known as donbass, from a nearby russian conquest. translated we are coming from peoples militia of crimea and we are here to help peoples militia of donbass. Reporter to the south, ukrainian jets streaked over kramatorsk, where the government opened an antiterrorist offensive yesterday and retook a local airfield. But locals, like this priest, sounded dismayed. translated my parish is here, residents of our village, we are against these troops entering and this kind of psychological attacks which they are making with planes flying low. Reporter to the east, in the provincial capital donetsk, masked militants overran more government buildings today. Theyve already occupied the Regional Governors office for ten days. This man, unmasked, made their case to reporters in front of the city council building. translated our main demand is to send a message to ukraines parliament demanding to pass a law about local referendums. The second demand is for the city council to help in organizing a local referendum about selfdetermination of the Donetsk Region on may 11. Reporter his name is alexander zakharchenko, last month, refusing to give his last name, he took us on a tour through donetsk checkpoints that he and his comrades manned. He said they meant to prevent incursions by supporters of the kiev government. translated donestk is a sleeping giant, dont wake it up. If it wakes up, there will be no place for anyone. Kiev cannot threaten our blood ties to russia. Let us decide our own future. Reporter in kiev, this is all seen as a replay of the russian invasion